The Squatter and the Don, written by María Amparo Ruiz de Burton (1832- 1895), under pen-name C Loyal, is a book about the construction of the American identity. If it describes several elements of this nation-building process, such as the entrepreneurial spirit, I strongly believe that the Law is the main element of this identity. Indeed, this book, through its characters and the description of the conflicts between the Californian Spaniards owner(s) and the White American settlers, shows the importance of the Law in the transformation of individuals into citizens, the complexity and the contradiction of the law which is at the root of an unequal society, and the need to change the Law so that the American democracy could meet its promises.
The law is the main debate in the book because it raises a contradiction. Indeed, the Law allows to convert people into citizens and to build a peaceful Nation but at the same time it is an instrument of oppression.
The Law transforms the individual into citizen for three reasons. First, throughout the first half of the book the conflicts between the landlord(s) and the settlers are solved through legal procedures and not through interpersonal violence. Even when the law seems unfaire, by depriving Don Mariano of his property, the victim tries to resolve the conflict through legal claims, the use of lawyers and private agreements. It thus appears that the Law is the main instrument to move from a pre-modern or Hobbesian society to a modern society where the Law is the symbol of the Social Contract (Lock, Rousseau). Secondly, the Law defines people as citizens because they have the duty to respect, apply and interpret the laws of Congress. It is worth mentioning that Mr. Darrel (Sr.) considers as an element of patriotism the need to strictly apply the laws of Congress. It shows that the law must define rights and duties that are the same for all citizens and that citizens must respect the rights and duties of other people. Third, the Law is the main product of the democratic system. Indeed, the characters of Clarence and Don Mariano repeatedly explain the role of the citizen in monitoring legislators and influencing the law. Therefore, according to the book, the citizen has a role to play in the elaboration of the Law that must be promulgated in the sole interest of this citizen.
Nonetheless, the book depicted the complexity of the Law as opposed to the moral. Indeed, it describes the oppressive history of Mexican-American life after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), which ended the war between Mexico and The U.S. The biased interpretation of this treaty whose spirit was not respected and applied in good faith by the U.S. Congress led to unfair laws described in the book. Through a detailed description of these laws that targeted the conquered people and challenged their property rights, Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton criticizes the lack of morality of the Law. It seems that she advocates the necesity for a democracy to realize its moral ethos, i.e. the need to create the same rights and duties for all citizens. The solution of the book is not the civil disobedience as advocated by Thoreau in Resistance to Civil Government (1849) but the social reforms. The book affirms the necessity to modify the Law in order to end this injustice and to recognize the oppressive history of post-treaty Mexican American life.